Oilers win opener in extra innings

Normally, when a manager calls for a staff game from the pitcher's mound, he's looking to get an inning or so out of several pitchers on his pitching staff.

Peninsula Oilers head coach Brian Green had a slightly different notion in mind -- the Oilers coaching staff handled the pitching duties for the Oilers regular-season opener against the Ukiah Victory Dons Tuesday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park.

With that in mind, it fell to the Peninsula offense to secure the win, and third baseman Luke Simmons came through in the bottom of the 10th inning with an RBI double down the left field line to end the game and give the Oilers a 9-8 victory.

"Our biggest concern going in was not disrespecting ourselves, our opponents or the game," Green said. "Our hitters put it on their shoulders."

The Peninsula hitters delivered, pounding out nine runs on 13 hits. Jamie D'Antona went 4-for-5 with a double and four RBIs, Bobby Spano went 3-for-4 with four runs and an RBI and Mark Teahen was 3-for-5 with two runs.

With players swinging the bats well up and down the lineup, Green was able to call for sacrifice bunts or hit-and-run plays on a regular basis.

"We want to see what we can do on offense, and we're going to continue to do more on offense," Green said.

The Peninsula batters certainly came up with plenty of run support for their pitchers early.

Spano and Teahen led off the Oilers' half of the first inning with back-to-back singles, and after a sacrifice bunt by Simmons, both players scored on a single to right field by D'Antona.

Matt Cunningham added an RBI single in the third inning, scoring D'Antona, who had reached on a single and advanced on a wild pitch.

D'Antona kept his bat warm with a two-run double in the fourth inning -- Spano had an RBI single and Simmons drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the frame -- and Simmons notched his second RBI of the evening with his single in the sixth inning.

Oilers pitching coach Andrew Checketts started the evening off for the Oilers, throwing the first six innings. He gave up four runs on five hits, walking six and striking out three Ukiah batters.

Green finished up, throwing four innings -- including the extra 10th, earning the win. Green gave up four runs on six hits, walking two and striking out one.

Ukiah's big rally came in the seventh inning, when the Victory Dons scored four runs on three hits, including a three-run triple by Wade Walter.

The Oilers defense held the Dons scoreless through the next three innings, though, and Simmons came through in the bottom of the 10th, scoring Spano with his double down the line. Spano had reached on a walk to lead off the inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Teahen.

"We're real fortunate to get through today with the win," Green said.

The Oilers are expecting a few more healthy arms to arrive in the next couple of days, and Green expects a full staff on hand when Peninsula begins Alaska Baseball League play Friday.

In the meantime, Green will have another staff game today -- his pitching staff, this time -- when the Oilers host Ukiah at 7 p.m. at Coral Seymour Memorial Park.